Process for production of tobacco composition and composition made hereby

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a process for treating ginseng to render it suitable for use as an additive in a tobacco product. The process comprises cutting ginseng into small pieces, dyeing the pieces a tobacco color, adding from about 0.2 to 1.0 percent by weight of a preservative, adjusting the moisture content, if necessary, to within the range of 10 to 15 percent by weight and thereafter applying to the surfaces of the ginseng pieces a protective film to preserve the moisture balance. There is also disclosed a tobacco product comprising a blend of treated ginseng and tobacco.

United States Patent 11 1 Kim [ 1 July 24, 1973 [76] Inventor: Tae HakKim, 112 Inidong,

Chongroku, Seoul, South Korea 22 Filed: Dec. 14,1971

[21] Appl. No.: 207,989

[52] US. Cl. 131/140 B, 131/17, 131/2 [51] Int. Cl A24b 15/00 [58] Fieldof Search 131/15, 17, 2,140-144 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 12,417 2/1855 Goshon ct al 131/2 92,497 7/1869 Webster 131/2210,538 12/1878 James 131/2 1,989,130 1/1935 Brownm. 131/3 2,298,08810/1942 Swain..... 131/17 R 2,809,904 10/1957 Koree 131/2 2,943,9597/1960 Schaflander 2,930,719 3/1960 Finberg 131/17 PrimaryExaminer-Melvin D. Rein Attorney-Roylance, Abrams, Berdo and Kaul [57]ABSTRACT There is disclosed a process for treating ginseng to render itsuitable for use as an additive in a tobacco product. The processcomprises cutting ginseng into small pieces, dyeing the pieces a tobaccocolor, adding from about 0.2 to 1.0 percent by weight of a preservative,adjusting the moisture content, if necessary, to within the range of 10to 15 percent by weight and thereafter applying to the surfaces of theginseng pieces a protective film to preserve the moisture balance. Thereis also disclosed a tobacco product comprising a blend of treatedginseng and tobacco.

2 Claims, No Drawings PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO COMPOSITION ANDCOMPOSITION MADE HEREBY This invention relates to a process for treatingginseng to render it suitable for use as a tobacco additive. Thisinvention also relates to a tobacco product containing such treatedginseng.

Ginseng is a naturally occuring root of a species of Panex which isindigenous to the Republic of Korea. It has long been used for itsmedicinal properties. The use of an extract of ginseng to treat tobaccohas been sug gested. However, the use of ginseng pieces in tobacco hasnot previously been known.

It is an object of this invention to provide a process for treatingginseng to render it useful in a tobacco product.

It is another object of this invention to provide a to bacco' productwhich contains ginseng.

These and other objects are attained by the practice of this inventionwhich, briefly, comprises cutting ginseng into small pieces, dyeing thepieces of ginseng a tobacco color, adding from about 0.2 to 1.0 percentby weight of a perservative, adjusting the moisture content, ifnecessary, to within the range of 10 to 15 percent by weight, andthereafter applyingto the surfaces of the ginseng pieces a protectivefilm to preserve the moisture balance. The thus treated ginseng is thenblended with tobacco to form a tobacco product.

The ginseng which may be used in the practice of this invention includesraw ginseng, white ginseng, red gin seng, and by-products thereof, e.g.,ginseng skin. Mixtures thereof may also be used. The ginseng is cut intosmall pieces about the size of normal shred which is used incigarettes-e.g., from about 0.3 to 3.0mm. in length. The shreaddedginseng is then dyed to a brown tobacco color such as by the use of asuitable food dye. The amount of food color used may be within the rangeof from about 1 to 5 percent by weight.

From about 0.1 to 1 percent by weight ofa preservative is then added.The perservative may be, for example, an ester of benzoic acid or sodiumdehydro acetate. The perservative may be applied to the ginseng shredsby spraying a solution thereof onto the pieces of ginseng. If necessary,th moisture content of the ginseng is adjustedto within the range ofabout to percent by weight. This may be accomplished by any suitablemoisturizing means known to the art. The use of the perservative andtherecited moisture range prevents spoilage of the ginseng. In order toprevent volatilization of the moisture and the volatile ingredients ofthe ginseng, the surfaces of the pieces are coated with a protectivefilm. This may be accomplished by spraying the ginseng pieces with asolution of a protective polymer such as polyvinyl acetate.

The treated ginseng may be mixed with tobacco in an amount of from about5 to 10 percent by weight of treated ginseng based upon the total weightof the final tobacco product. The tobacco product may be chewed orsmoked in a pipe or may be used to make cigarettes. If smoked, either incigarettes or in a pipe, the treated ginseng tobacco product has aunique taste and a characteristic ginseng aromatic fragrance.

The following example illustrates the practice of this invention:

0 EXAMPLE White ginseng is cut into pieces not larger than five cm.,dried in the shade and then cut into long, thin pieces. These pieces areblended with dried raw ginseng and ginseng skin and the mixture is cutinto pieces ranging in length from about 0.3 to 3.0mm. The ratio of thewieght of white ginseng to the weight of raw ginseng and ginseng skin inthe mixture is 1:4. The mixture of ginseng pieces is treated from 1 to 5percent by weight of cola color and 0.1 to 1 percent of sodium dehydroacetate is sprayed on the pieces. The moisture content is adjusted to 13percent by weight and the pieces of ginseng are coated by spraying witha solution of polyvinyl acetate to prevent volatilization of themoisture and of the volatile ingredients.

The thus treated ginseng is then mixed with tobacco to form a blendcomprising about 8 percent by weight of treated ginseng. The resultantblend may be formed into cigarettes. The smoke from such cigarettes hasan aromatic fragrance.

This invention has been described in detail with particular reference tothe preferred embodiment thereof, but it will be understood thatvariations and modifications can be affected within the spirit and scopeof the invention as described hereinabove and as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A process for the production of a tobacco composition which comprisescutting, ginseng into small pieces, dyeing the pieces a tobacco color,treating the dyed pieces with from 0.2-1.0 percent of a preservativeselected from the group consisting of benzoic acid esters and sodiumdehydro acetate, adjusting the moisture content to about 10-15 percent,spraying the treated ginseng pieces with polyvinyl acetate and finallymixing the pieces with tobacco in an amount constituting a minorproportion of the tobacco composition.

2. The composition made by the process of claim 1.

2. The composition made by the process of claim 1.